If opening track ‘Machines of Loving Grace’ begins sounding like an electro Enya, then it ends a mess of digital wreckage in which a cyborg Bjork lies twitching and sparking. Chelsea Nikkel – aka New Zealander Princess Chelsea – is all about contrast, conflict and duality. Bubbling mellow tones – a kind of Vangelis in Wonderland with female vocals – meet with stark digitalism and dramatic sweeps to create a curious mix that’s half cutesy, half psycho, the candy-coated popness at odds with so much of the lyrical content.
The dialogue of ‘The Cigarette Duet’ is catchy and clever, and ‘Too Fast to Live’ is dressed up as a slow dance song from a movie set in the 50s, but again, its subject matter is altogether darker than the conventional ‘boy meets girl’ type lyric, and the ‘little girl lost’ vocals atop a rolling piano on ‘Overseas’ creates the perfect dynamic.
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Musically and lyrically articulate, intelligent and a tiny bit odd, ‘Lil’ Golden Book’ is the musical equivalent of a butterfly that bites.
Princess Chelsea Online
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